Derechos de los niños y adolescentes

Girls’ enrolment has increased in project schools since 2008, by 10% in Mozambique, 17% in kenya and 14% in Ghana. Boys’ enrolment has also improved. While in 2008, gender parity in enrolment was already evident throughout the primary years in Mozambique,

5. changes in schools as sites for

challenging gender inequality

and violence

in kenya at that time, there was a steep drop in girls enrolled in the final years of schooling, and a positive finding is that this has considerably reduced. in class 8, the final year of primary education in kenya, gender parity has improved from 0.48 in 2008 to 0.87 in 20134_{. in Ghana too girls’ enrolment in the final years}

has improved and there is now gender parity in the final year of primary school.

Within each country, gender parity varies between the communities, with more equal enrolment in communities closer to roads and formal employment in Mozambique and Ghana, but with girls in remote schools still disadvantaged. in kenya, the differences were more closely linked to ethnic group, with gender parity in pokomo schools, but not in Wardei schools. School level data on drop out, attendance and progression was unreliable in many schools, but those schools that did provide data indicated that in Ghana and kenya fewer girls and boys are dropping out of schools in 2012, though this is not the case in Mozambique. Changes in schools 500 450 400 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2008 2013 GHANA GIRLS (14% increase) GHANA BOyS (5% increase) KENyA GIRLS (17% increase) KENyA BOyS (18% increase) MOzAMBIQuE GIRLS (10% increase) MOzAMBIQuE BOyS (7% increase) Figure 10: Mean number of pupils enrolled per school in 2008 and 2013.

4 Gender parity is measured using the gender parity index,

which demonstrates the ratio of girls to boys. in this case it is the number of girls enrolled divided by the number of boys enrolled. numbers below 1 indicate female disadvantage, which is greater the smaller the number.

headteachers viewed the improvements in girls accessing school as some of their major achievements in recent years. often they attributed the change to the effects of government initiatives such as free primary schooling and school feeding programmes, alongside the effects of ActionAid and sometimes other nGos working in the area, in sensitising parents about the importance of girls’ education:

“You see these days the community has recognized the value of girls’ education. But remember the Action Aid group has been doing a lot in this area encouraging parents to take their girls to school. To the girls Action Aid is like their eye opener. It is like they have woken up from a very deep sleep.”

(headteacher kenya).

“The free education policy is welcome. We can see that the child that is here in the school has no money for buying materials, and we are able to provide them thanks to the School Direct Support (ADE) scheme”

(headteacher, Mozambique).

“It is through the support of hardworking staff and the education that Action Aid and Songtaba has been giving to the community. Then of course the government intervention by way of capitation, school uniform and exercise books policy.”

(headteacher, Ghana).

the success of project interventions in this area was widely recognised, and in all three countries localised interventions as part of a broader drive for girls’ education seem to have enabled a shift in gender norms.

Table 7: Drop out rate change

2008 2012

Girls Boys Girls Boys

Ghana 1.6 1.7 0.2 0.2

Kenya 5.3 7.1 1.1 0.6

Mozambique 8.4 9.5 8.9 9.7

Changes in schools

however, continuing barriers to girls’ schooling were also acknowledged. Most were related to harsh socio- economic conditions, with the main reasons stopping girls from attending school cited by teachers, girls and boys being chores, childcare or care for relatives and other forms of labour, as well as marriage and pregnancy. in kenya and Ghana in particular, parents being unable to pay school fees was a barrier, though teachers in Ghana saw this as less of a barrier in 2013 than in 2009. Some headteachers explained that, though enrolment has improved, attendance varies through the year, with girls and boys missing school during harvest time, as in the mango season in kenya. Some teachers also complained that girls arrive late at school because of the need to fetch water, though many felt this has improved over time.

headteachers also expressed the view that cases of pregnancy and marriage leading girls to leave school have reduced, with some speaking about how girls are now encouraged to return to school after giving birth. While these concerns appear to have reduced, some headteachers still spoke of the challenge of tracking girls who have left the school. in kenya, for example, one headteacher said that parents masked their intention to remove their daughters for marriage by saying they were transferring schools, leaving the headteacher powerless to intervene. Girls in kenya expressed similar concerns, and emphasized their own powerlessness:

“the father asks for a transfer letter and the girl can do nothing”

(12-13 year old girls in school, kenya).

Another girl in the pastoralist Wardei community, who aspires to take her studies to university and to marry when she is 22 years old, talked of her anxiety about being forced to marry if she fails her exams:

“I am worried about getting married early because of my poor performance. If I fail my exams, I might get married. I will work hard so that I pass and so nobody will tell me to get married.”

(17 year old girl, kenya).

in Mozambique, these challenges were exacerbated by the extent of mobility, with girls often disappearing from schools and headteachers unclear whether they had moved with their families for work, school in another area or marriage – as indeed was the case for

several girls in our longitudinal study (see chapter 4). though girls welcomed the opportunity to continue studying after childbearing, some girls however are reluctant to return to school, where they may face stigma, difficulties keeping up with school work, shame and identity conflicts over their dual role as mother/ adult and pupil/child (Dunne and Ananga 2013):

“Efforts to encourage the girls to come back to school have been futile. Once they deliver we talk to the parents to encourage them to go to school. If it becomes impossible we tell the area chief. Actually there is little success because most girls do not want to come back. They feel shy and think others will talk about them and even laugh at them. I think if the parents will support and encourage them then they will come to school.”

(headteacher, kenya).

“She gave birth and continued in school but they would come and call her out of the classroom to go and feed the baby. She became embarrassed about that situation and quit school. We insisted with the husband but she could not return. The biggest challenge is to take care of the baby and continue studying”

(headteacher, Mozambique).

“My time at school was a very tough one, I was punished almost every day by being caned. But my worst experience was being a big girl in class five among young children. Even teachers could make fun of me calling me ‘mother’. I felt this was unkind treatment. Later on my classmates made it even worse by calling me grandmother”

(focus group with out of school girls, kenya). these examples illustrate the need for sensitive enactment of re-entry policies. it is not enough just to permit girls to stay in school, without consideration of adaptations and support that may be needed for them to succeed.

5.3 Girls achieving and succeeding in